


Miscommunication

by edibleflowers



Category: Popslash
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-17
Updated: 2012-09-17
Packaged: 2017-11-14 10:04:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/514070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edibleflowers/pseuds/edibleflowers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>JC isn't sure where he stands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Miscommunication

**Author's Note:**

> Threesomes are not something that probably work too well in reality, but it was an interesting challenge to try and write a polyamorous relationship.

When JC wakes up, Joey's gone, and for a moment he feels a frisson of alarm. Joey's side of the bed is cool, though the sheets are rumpled, and then he sits up and smells something cooking from downstairs. He smiles, half in relief and half in amusement at his immediate tendency to freak out, and swings himself out of bed.

Dressed, at least as much as he feels like dressing, in boxer shorts and one of Joey's big t-shirts, he ambles downstairs and finds Justin in the kitchen, humming cheerfully as he assembles condiments on a tray. With a grin, he slides up behind Justin, presses himself all along Justin's back, and Justin makes a small happy sound and nestles back. JC closes his arms around Justin's narrow waist and kisses his shoulder. "Morning."

"Afternoon," Justin corrects him, and turns his head so their mouths can meet. "Come on, Joe's making hamburgers."

JC grins and takes the tray from Justin, which frees Justin up to grab cans of Coke and precede him out to the back porch. The dogs run up, barking, as JC makes his entrance, and then they're off again in pursuit of a chew toy. JC kind of likes the way the dogs all get along. He was worried at first that Baron would shred one of Justin's little yappy Pomeranians, but they co-habitate pretty damn well and it's a relief.

Joey's at the grill, so JC sets the tray down on the table. "How do you want 'em, C?" Joey calls.

"Gimme two cheeseburgers," he says. Justin tosses him a can and he pops it open, settling back in a patio chair. It's not too hot today, a few high clouds drifting above them and an easy breeze ruffling JC's hair back from his forehead. He tilts his head back, closes his eyes; the sunshine feels good on his face, like a warm blessing.

"C, man, don't doze off on us," he hears Justin say, and his shin is prodded under the table by a bare toe. He lifts a middle finger in response and Justin laughs.

They eat in a companionable silence, licking mustard and relish from fingers in a way that -- for now -- remains innocent, non-sexual. As he eats, JC's mind is only half on the delicious burgers. He's drifting, his thoughts wandering; he's trying to find what led him here, to this moment. Not last night -- though that's something definitely worth remembering -- but all of it.

They've been sleeping together, in various combinations, for close to a month now. Before that, JC knows, Joey and Justin had fucked every once in a while and then recently more often. There hadn't been any kind of formal arrangement; it was just buddyfucking, occasional bouts of what Joey, grinning, referred to in low tones "as really fucking great sex." From what JC's gathered, it's been going on sometime since Justin's nineteenth birthday, but only recently has it begun to develop into something more.

JC's been going through his own things -- between Bobbie, then Marcela, Tara, Carlos, and various one-night stands -- so he hadn't really paid much attention to it. He and Joey are close, sure, but not as close as Joey and Lance; so when Lance nudged him one night and asked him what the hell was going on with Joey and Justin, JC had given him a blank look.

They were in Houston, at a bar -- Lance was desperate for American atmosphere after a few months in Star City. JC had flown out from LA to meet him there, and Lance had told him about spending a couple of nights beforehand in Orlando. He'd hung out with Joey, as expected, but at some point Justin had been there, too, because, "Yeah, man, J was there," Lance said, his eyes gleaming with gossip-knowledge, "and he and Joe, they didn't stop looking at each other the whole time."

JC was vaguely surprised at that, so the next chance he could, he flew out to see Joey. By then his rehearsals for RENT were well underway, so JC found himself in New York, in an unfamiliar apartment building, and he left Tiny down the hall and headed down by himself. When he knocked on the apartment door, Justin had answered, wet-haired and in a towel, and JC's heart leapt into his throat.

So then they were together, and JC felt a little jealous. He told himself it was because he thought they were lucky to have each other, that it must be nice to wake up to the same person every morning. He didn't think about what they looked like together, what it must be like in bed, how hot Joey's kisses undoubtedly were and what Justin looked like when he came.

That was why it had come as a shock when they'd invited him out one night, proceeded to get all three of them spectacularly wasted, and in the limo home, started peeling JC's clothes off. JC had tried to gasp a token protest, but he wanted it so badly that, the moment Justin's mouth closed over his cock, he pushed upwards and groaned his climax.

"Just go with it," Joey had urged, so JC slithered down and pulled Joey's pants open, went down on him. It was all the more erotic because Joey and Justin were kissing over his head, moaning, and both of them had a hand on his hair. After Joey had come, shaking, JC settled back to watch as Justin got him ready, then leaned him over the seat and fucked him. It was surreal, and every bit as hot as he'd imagined (not imagined, hadn't thought about it) it would be. Their whispered words, the low moans, the sound of Justin's hips slapping against Joey's ass; JC palmed his renewed erection and wondered what he was doing there. But then they got home, and in Justin's gigantic bed, he'd found out all over again.

And so he's been sleeping with both of them. It's easy, too easy, because he's always known them in one way or another. He's watched Joey on the prowl; he's witnessed Justin's startling transformation into an exquisite, mature creature; he's seen them both shot down and in their dorkiest moments. When Justin comes home sweaty and panting from playing basketball with Chris, JC likes to tug him into the shower, get him clean, fuck him hard up against the moist tile. When Joey falls asleep with Briahna on his chest, he likes to sit and watch them, composing lullabies in his head. And it's a rare night that he doesn't fall asleep nestled between them, or with an arm thrown around Joey's waist, or a hand touching Justin somewhere.

It's all so easy, so normal, that it scares JC.

"So I was thinking," he says, and there's sudden laughter. He glares at Justin, then Joey.

"We know," Justin says. "You've been off in your own world for like five minutes now."

JC sighs and stares at his plate. "I was thinking," he says again, ignoring Justin's snickers, "about what's going on here."

"How do you mean, C?" Joey asks, his tone gentle.

"I mean. I mean, this." He waves his hands in an encompassing gesture, meant to take in all three of them. "Us. What we've been doing."

"What about it?" Justin sounds a little scared. "You, you don't want to stop, do you?"

"It's not that. It's." Frustrated, he stands, moving restlessly across the patio and back. "What is this? What, what are we doing? Are we in a relationship? Are we dating? It doesn't make any sense to me."

The looks Joey and Justin exchange give JC the clear impression that neither of them have given the matter much thought. "I don't know," Justin says at last, slowly. "I just kinda thought it was, you know, sex."

JC can't help but chuckle a little bitterly at that. "Just sex," he repeats, and Justin nods. "That's great. Is that what it is with you and Joe?"

About to retort, Justin makes a sudden face and glares at Joey. JC guesses Joey's just grabbed Justin's arm under the table or something.

"Of course not," Joey says. "But it's not just sex with you, either. We haven't exactly talked about it, man, give us some slack."

JC rolls his eyes. "You guys have been dancing around this for, what, three years now? Whatever, man. If this is some big true love thing, I don't want to get stuck in the middle just 'cause y'all wanted to fuck me." He starts for the sliding doors, intent on grabbing his wallet and keys and getting the fuck out of there, but Joey stands suddenly and takes his arm, and he stops in his tracks.

"Please, Joe," JC sighs. "Let me go."

"You can't say things like that and then just walk out." Joey's eyes are dark, serious, a little angry.

"I don't know what I'm doing here," JC says. "Doesn't it seem a little weird to you?"

Justin's picking at the edge of the iron patio table, his eyes downcast. "It didn't before," he says softly.

"That's why I gotta know," JC says, and takes a step back from Joey. "If it was -- if it was just two of us getting into a relationship or something, I could understand that. But three -- it doesn't work like that."

"Why not?" Joey asks mildly. "Why not, C? I mean, what if I'm falling in love with both of you?"

Justin's head snaps up at that, but Joey keeps his gaze focused on JC. "It could happen, right?" he says.

"I-- maybe. I don't know. But you and Justin have been at this a lot longer," JC says, feeling a little desperate now. "It, I don't understand where I fit in here."

"We both wanted you," Justin says. "We talked about it. It seemed like you were interested. So we -- we thought we'd go for it."

Justin's voice is taut, and Joey flashes him a quick smile, so tender that JC knows, suddenly: Joey's already fallen for Justin, maybe a long time ago, and just hasn't known it.

"Look, I admit we should have talked about it then," Joey says. "Laid ground rules or whatever. But it was going so well." His voice shakes a little. "I didn't want it to stop or, or you to wake up one day and decide you'd had enough--" He cuts himself off, then, and takes a long calming breath. He's steadier when he continues. "Whatever we have, I want it to keep going."

JC stares at his bare feet for a long minute. Then, without looking up, he steps forward, and again, faster, and Joey's arms catch him up in a tight hug. He hears Joey's sharp inhalation, feels Joey's face pressed into his neck. He brings a hand up to cradle the back of Joey's hand, and suddenly he's swallowing hard to keep himself level.

When he lifts his head, Joey's giving him a wary smile, and Justin's there, too, standing beside Joey, his face worried. JC brings his other hand to Justin's cheek, feels his stomach lurch a little when Justin covers it with his own.

"I don't want to go, either," he confesses. His voice is a little rough, and he swallows. "Believe me. I'm. I'm really enjoying this."

"Thank God," Justin breathes, and that sets off a round of giggles, the tension of the moment escaping in laughter. JC puts his arm around Justin's waist, and for a quiet moment they stand there, heads lowered together, arms circling each other. Mine, JC thinks, and a sudden fierce swell of emotion surges in him.

It's Joey who lifts his head first, his eyes on JC until JC raises his eyes to meet Joey's searching gaze. "Are we OK?" Joey says quietly.

JC bites his lip and looks at Justin. "Where do I stand with you guys?"

"Right here," Justin murmurs. "We're -- we're all three together. Not two of us plus one."

"Boyfriends," Joey says, and JC lets out a relieved chuckle at that. He likes the slightly silly sound of it.

"OK. Boyfriends."

"So, uh," Justin adds, with a grin, "can we go celebrate now? Inside? Where there's air conditioning?"

"I don't know, I kinda like the great outdoors," and Joey's tugging Justin in for a kiss. JC runs a hand up Justin's back, feeling his delighted shiver, and then grabs their hands, pulling them -- _his boyfriends_ , he thinks with a grin -- towards the house.


End file.
